Following the flurry of earthquakes of magnitude 4.0-5.0 Richter during the first half of the month of February, which resulted in the closure of schools in the Cyclades generally and an exodus of workers and residents especially from Santorini, the seismic sequence has shown signs of receding over the past 10 days or so, bringing hopes of a return to normality before the start of the all-important tourist season. Following meetings of the committees for assessing Seismic and Volcanic Risk, the decision has been taken to reopen the schools from Tuesday 4th March, resulting in a flow of returning residents, while hotels and restaurants are proceeding with preparations to welcome the first tourists in the middle of this month.